Without a Trace (Rewrite)
by GriffinRose
Summary: Ulrich is missing and Xana's attacks aren't doing anything on Earth. Or at least, they don't seem to be. The Lyoko Warriors continue to fight with no idea what Xana is up to or where their favorite brunette is.
1. Chapter 1

_So, I decided to rewrite this story since I love it so much but the writing of the original is atrocious (I don't understand how anyone read that. God Bless them). I'm leaving the original posted, since some elements will change. I can't imagine many people want to go read that horrible thing, but if you're nostalgic like me fear not, it shall remain._

 _Um…I think that's it? Oh, I don't own Code: Lyoko._

Chapter 1

Six o'clock in the morning is quite possibly the worst hour of the day. It signals the end of blissful sleep and the start of a new day. A new day means struggling with school and homework and relationships and, if you're the right type of person, it could mean you're also trying to save the world on a daily basis.

Odd Dellarobbia hates mornings. He'd sleep the whole day away if he could. Honestly, if not for his roommate, Ulrich Stern, he probably would. It was Ulrich who remembered to set the alarm every night, Ulrich who woke up to the alarm, and Ulrich who then woke him up because he never woke up to the alarm.

This morning though, instead of a broody teenager shoving him around, a wet tongue licked his face repeatedly.

"G'way Kiwi," Odd mumbled in his sleep, pushing his dog away. Dogs weren't allowed in the boarding school dormitories, but that didn't really stop Odd. He couldn't just leave his poor little doggie all alone at home, now could he?

Kiwi started barking, and that woke Odd up enough to hear the horrible alarm still going off. For some unknown reason, Ulrich's alarm was like a red alert sound on a sinking submachine. Or at least that's what Odd always thought of it as. He personally hated the sound, but Ulrich didn't care what Odd thought. It didn't wake Odd up as it was, but it was the only sound that woke him up.

"Ulrich, the alarm," Odd said, burrowing into his pillow.

There was no movement from the other side of the room. The alarm kept blaring.

Kiwi kept barking.

"Shh, Kiwi," Odd said. He was more awake now, but he didn't want to be. "You have to be quiet."

Kiwi didn't stop, and neither did the alarm.

But more surprisingly, there still was no movement on the other side of the room.

Odd finally looked up and turned a glare towards his roommate, but there was no roommate to glare at. He blinked and glanced around the small room, but no Ulrich jumped out.

Sighing loudly, Odd dragged himself out of bed and over to the alarm, finally turning the horrid thing off. Kiwi stopped barking now that the alarm was off, and blissful silence returned to the room.

Odd rubbed his eyes and glanced at the time. Pausing, he narrowed his eyes and looked closer at the digital numbers. "6:24?!"

He dropped the alarm clock and scrambled around the room, trying to get ready in time for breakfast. The food he scooped out for Kiwi half-missed the bowl, little kibbles scattering over the floor. His shoes were untied and his hair wasn't gelled into a perfect point, instead consisting of several pieces falling over. His books were shoved into his bag and he barely remembered to grab his phone and his key before running out of the room and down to the cafeteria.

In all this, Ulrich never appeared.

All through breakfast and all through their morning classes, Ulrich never appeared. The teachers called for him during attendance, looking up to Odd and their other friends for an explanation when he didn't claim to be there. No one knew where he was.

Odd and his three friends, Jeremy Belpois, Aeilita Stones, and Yumi Ishiyama checked the nurse's office at lunch, but he wasn't there and hadn't checked in there either. After that they went back to Odd's room to try and look for clues.

His shoes were gone, as was a heavier jacket of his that he hardly ever wore.

But his phone and his room key were on his desk still.

Aeilita happened to glance at Odd's desk while they were searching. On top of the normal clutter was a folded piece of paper. Tilting her head, she picked it up and unfolded it.

Written in Ulrich's familiar scrawl were two words.

 _I'm sorry._

That was it. No explanations. No details. Not even a signature. He didn't even have the decency to say good-bye.

The four friends gave Ulrich a chance to come back before reporting it. Teachers noticed first though. Jim tried to randomly pop into the dorm room to find him, but he never did. After two days the school was forced to call the police and open an investigation. Ulrich's parents were called.

There were reports of teens at two train stations and three bus stations getting on a train around the time Ulrich had gone missing that matched his description. The leads didn't get the police very far though, only to the respective towns that each transport vehicle had gone to.

There was no motive for Ulrich leaving that anyone could think of. No signs of him wanting to leave.

He was just gone, gone without a trace.

XX

Hood pulled over his head and sunglasses covering his eyes, Ulrich was easily missed in any crowd. Street cameras couldn't pick him out individually, and he knew how to avoid most of them.

The walk was long. He took side-streets, keeping to the shadows as much as possible, and didn't stop walking until he was three towns away from Kadic academy. By now, the planned decoys had all boarded trains and buses, laying a false trail for the police to follow. But once they were on the trains and buses, their brown wigs and brown contacts would come off, and they would disappear in the next town.

The temperature was brisk, colder than Ulrich would have liked. He kept his hands shoved in his pockets, but he could still barely feel the tips of his fingers. His feet were sore from all the walking.

His heart, though, was crying.

He'd never thought he'd have to leave. He'd always thought that Kadic was the last stop, that the fight would end there. That's what he'd always been told. He couldn't believe they'd been wrong. He couldn't believe he'd been forced to run.

He couldn't believe he actually had.

Orders were orders though, and he knew he was protecting more than just himself by leaving everyone behind.

That's why he didn't look back. It's why he kept going forward, even when his feet ached and he could feel blisters forming. If he looked back, he might _go_ back.

Late afternoon, he made it to his first destination, a town three cities away. He hadn't stopped, and he hadn't eaten. His stomach rumbled, and his body sagged with exhaustion. But he bought the bus ticket he'd been ordered to buy, and he boarded the bus he'd been ordered to board.

The bus drove another eight hours, pulling into the destined stop around midnight. He only slept a little on the bus, just enough to get him where he needed to go.

A basement apartment, half hidden in the ghetto of an old city. The people inside were waiting for him, though no light spilled out from the windows. They'd been covered inside to hide the fact that anyone was living there.

He knocked once, waited, then three times, waited, and then twice more. The door was opened slowly, then all at once. A hand shot forward and dragged him by the shirt collar inside before slamming the door.

"Ulrich!" Thin, muscular arms wrapped around him and a head buried itself in his chest.

"Geez, can't you even let me get my bearings, Mellie?" Ulrich asked.

The girl let go of him and stepped back, putting her hands on her hips. She had medium-length strawberry-blonde hair, brown eyes, and freckles practically covering her face. Her nose was as straight as a ruler, giving her a much stricter appearance than her personality.

"Well it's been a rather stressful day waiting for you to get here," Mellie said.

Ulrich raised a brow and then glanced around the apartment. The inside of the place was much nicer than the outside would lead people to believe. Clean white walls, simple recessed lights, and stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. The dark brown carpet led seamlessly into the dark wood floor of the kitchen, and the table, chairs, and cabinets had a lighter, natural wood look. The living room, right next to the kitchen, had beige furniture, a flatscreen tv, and a desk with a computer on it.

Off of the living room was a hallway with four doors, one of which was opening as a black haired teen came through, rubbing his eyes and blinking at Ulrich.

Ulrich smiled and shook his head. "It's not that late, Jake," he said.

"Speak for yourself," Jake mumbled, leaning against his doorway. "Some of us were up early."

Jake had messy black hair, round green eyes, olive skin, and a hawk-nose.

"I was up early yesterday. And then I didn't sleep last night because I had to run away," Ulrich said.

"So can we go to bed?" Jake asked.

Mellie rolled her eyes. "Four years and you think he would have changed."

Ulrich laughed. "Don't you know the saying? Things never change." The smile slipped off his face.

All this time, and he was still stuck following orders. He'd been forced into this when he was six, and now, nine years later, he was still being forced to do things. It didn't matter if he understood what was happening now. That just made him feel more trapped, because if he knew the reasons behind his orders then he knew there was no way around them.

So if they told him to get out of Kadic as soon as he could, then that's what he did.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Four weeks doesn't sound like a long time. On a calendar, it looks like a very short amount of time. In actuality though, four weeks is a very long time, especially when constantly waiting for news. The Lyoko gang spent every day on edge, waiting for news about Ulrich. Hours dragged on, but there was nothing.

Nothing but X.A.N.A. attacks anyway. The AI seemed to have realized they were one member short, and his attacks were constant. They caused a lot of damage too, which meant a lot of return to the pasts and making him grow even stronger. Some of his attacks seemed targeted at just that purpose.

It was also incredible the difference one team member made. Things had seemed much more manageable with Ulrich around, but now that he was gone they were always on the ropes. They could hardly manage protecting people on Earth and protecting Aeilita in Lyoko. It wasn't really enough to have only one person on Lyoko besides Aeilita, but they were often left with no other choice.

The constant reliving their days only made four weeks drag out even longer.

Their situation was only made worse when, after four weeks, Odd trudged up to his room and found the door open.

At first he was excited. Maybe Ulrich had finally come back to his senses and returned. His pace quickened and he ran into his room, only to stop dead in his tracks.

It wasn't Ulrich. It was his parents. And they had boxes, boxes quickly being filled with Ulrich's things. Mrs. Stern sat on Ulrich's bed, running her hands over Kiwi with tears trailing down her face. Mr. Stern was busy grabbing all of his son's things. The few things on the walls had already been taken down, and it looked like the desk had already been emptied.

They glanced up at Odd's entrance, and for a few moments they all just stared at each other.

Mr. Stern cleared his throat. "Odd. We're, uh, here to get Ulrich's things."

"What's he going to do when he comes back?" Odd asked.

Mrs. Stern shut her eyes and turned her head away from the teen.

"At this point, it's very unlikely he's coming back," Mr. Stern said. He went back to pulling Ulrich's clothes out of the wardrobe.

"You don't know that," Odd said. He could hear the blood rushing through his ears.

"It's been a month, Odd," Mr. Stern said, not even slowing in his packing. "The police haven't even found a solid trail to follow. At this point, they're not going to."

"So you're just giving up on him?" Odd demanded, fists clenching at his side.

Mr. Stern glared at him. "I'm not being left with very many options, am I?"

"Please, Odd," Mrs. Stern said. "This is hard enough as it is." Her hands ran over Kiwi's back.

"You think it hasn't been hard on me and my friends? We're the ones who actually saw him every day, and now he's gone! My best friend is gone!"

Kiwi glanced up at Odd's outburst.

Mr. Stern paused in his work, staring at the back of Ulrich's wardrobe. He took a deep breath and then took calm steps towards Odd. Odd glared up at him defiantly.

"I trust that my son is alive, and that he is going to keep himself alive. And I trust that he will one day come back. However, I don't think that day will be soon. So, move on with your life."

Odd's glare fell into confusion. The way Mr. Stern was looking at him, that concentrated gaze…it was like he knew something.

"Odd!" Jeremy yelled from down the hall. The blonde was in the doorway in a moment, wide eyes staring at Ulrich's parents in surprise.

"What?" Odd asked.

"Oh, um…that project we're working on with Aeilita…."

Odd sighed. "I'm on my way."

He threw his book-bag onto his bed and then followed Jeremy.

Mrs. Stern ran to the doorway, still holding Kiwi, and called out, "We'll keep quiet about this little guy."

Odd glanced back over his shoulder and nodded before disappearing through the stairwell door.

The gang went through the normal process. All of them went to Lyoko, Jeremy supervising on the computer and trying to figure out what X.A.N.A.'s attack even was. Nothing was happening at the academy, or even in their city. It didn't even seem like some major disaster was about to happen.

They had never seen a tower more guarded though. Three mega tanks, five krabs, six wasps, and a dozen kankrelots, all just standing in front of the tower in the desert sector.

"Whatever X.A.N.A's doing, he is definitely trying to buy himself time," Jeremy said.

"We can't even get close," Yumi said. She tossed her fan from behind a rock they were all taking cover behind.

"Maybe I can create a wall, try and block some of them off," Aeilita said, peeking around the edge.

"Alright, but be careful," Yumi said. Her fan bounced off the edge of the wasp before coming back to her.

Aeilita nodded and kneeled down, pressing her hands together. The digital outline of a wall formed on either side of the tower, blocking half of the monsters. It still left all of the mega tanks though, and half of the kankrelots.

"Alright, we'll create an opening, and Aeilita you just run for the tower," Odd said, prepping his laser arrows.

"No matter what happens, just keep heading for that tower," Yumi said.

Aeilita nodded.

Odd started to count. "Three, two, one, go!"

He and Yumi jumped out from behind the rock and went all out against the monsters, giving it everything they had. Red lasers flashed around them, most missing them, but some hitting them.

Aeilita ran out behind them, guiltily using her friends as a shield as she moved forward.

Odd was devirtualized, leaving only Yumi to protect the princess.

They almost didn't make it. Aeilita took several hits, and Yumi wasn't destroying nearly enough monsters. Yumi ended up sacrificing herself in a mega tank hit, but she created the path Aeilita needed.

She ran into the tower, just barely missing another mega tank blast.

In no time she had the tower deactivated, and they were all gathered around the super computer.

"So…what did X.A.N.A. do?" Yumi asked.

"I have no idea," Jeremy said. "I can't find any evidence of anything being messed with."

"Should we bother with a return to the past then?" Aeilita asked.

"I don't know," Jeremy answered.

"Well maybe XANA didn't do anything," Odd said. "Maybe he wanted to try taking us out on Lyoko."

They glanced around at each other. No one could come up with any better explanation, so they went with it. They left the supercomputer without a return to the past.

They barely made it back to Kadic in time for dinner, and they hadn't even started their homework yet.

Jeremy pushed his food around on his plate. "You know…maybe we should consider bringing in some help," he said.

Aeilita and Odd glanced up at him. "Why would we do that?" Odd asked.

"Just…we're barely on top of it anymore…I think we could use another person that we could call if we needed to," Jeremy said.

Aeilita sighed and put her fork down. "I think he's right."

Odd frowned. It didn't feel like they'd be bringing in help. It felt like they'd be replacing Ulrich.

"Face it Odd, we need the help. We barely won today. If XANA tries that again, we might not be so lucky."

"Do what you want," Odd said, pushing his tray away and storming from the table. He went up to his room. His half empty room that now felt too big and lonely.

He sank down on Ulrich's old bed, Kiwi jumping up beside him. Things were changing, and he didn't like it.

Xx

Four weeks spent doing nothing felt more like four months. Ulrich could hardly believe it had only been four weeks. He wasn't allowed to leave the basement apartment at all, and Mellie and Jake were only allowed to leave for food.

This arrangement made for very long and very boring days. Especially when he had to repeat so much of it. He was aware of every return to the past that he knew his friends were responsible for, and living in such boring monotony was making him rather irritable. Mellie was beginning to think he was psychic since he always knew what she was going to suggest before she suggested it, and the two of them had learned that it was dangerous to play cards with him.

But even without having to repeat boring days, Ulrich would have been irritable. Torn from his friends, from the few things he actually had control over in his life, he was not happy. He wanted to be back at Kadic. While he understood why he couldn't be there right now, why he had to be in hiding with two of his old friends as bodyguards, that didn't mean he liked it.

Mellie and Jake knew he wasn't happy. They tried to keep entertained as much as they could, but there wasn't a lot to do. The few board games they had had all gotten old after the first week, and playing cards all the time was boring too. There was nothing on tv, and they weren't really supposed to be on the computer. Mellie had brought an armful of books back one day, but they didn't really feel like reading.

Finally, after four weeks, they got a phone call. It was a special phone that came with the apartment, the signal bouncing between so many spots it was almost untrackable. But that was the point.

Ulrich was the closest and so was the one who answered. "Hello?"

"Stern?"

"Yeah, it's me," Ulrich said. Maybe, finally, they were about to tell him that he could go back to Kadic.

"I have bad news," the director said.

All of Ulrich's hopes and dreams sank.

"Our systems have been hacked. Everything has been stolen from our systems."

"What? How is that possible?" Ulrich asked.

Mellie and Jake looked up at him.

"We believe it was because of XANA. No other system could have gotten through our firewalls without us noticing," the director said. "But you know what this means, right?"

Ulrich shut his eyes. "The Omega Plan," he replied.

Mellie and Jake gasped, their eyes wide.

"Correct. You and the other two are to remain where you are. Stay in hiding. The rest of our operatives will be off the grid within the week. I alone will be in contact with you, via this phone or email."

"Any idea how long this will last?" Ulrich asked.

"At the moment, this could be indefinite," the director replied.

"What if I went back to Kadic? I know how to fight XANA there and my friends are working on a way to stop him."

"I am not leaving the fate of this world to a bunch of children. Your orders are to remain where you are."

The line went dead.

Ulrich slammed the phone down on the receiver, glaring at the plastic.

"The Omega plan?" Jake repeated.

Ulrich sighed and nodded. "We're to remain where we are," he said flatly.

"More bonding, yay," Jake rolled his eyes.

Ulrich shook his head and took a deep breath.

XANA had hacked the system. XANA knew who all of them were. He could find them all and kill them all. He could go through all of their accounts and completely ruin everybody. And there was nothing Ulrich could do but blame himself, because if XANA hadn't realized Ulrich was connected to it all, XANA never would have been able to trace it back to the organization.

He slammed a fist into the wall, cracking the plaster, and continued to glare at the phone.

 _Please Review!_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Despite all feelings otherwise, life still went on. Before any of them had realized it, ten months had passed since Ulrich's disappearance. XANA had kept them so busy though that they had hardly realized it.

The most annoying thing though was that they didn't know what he was doing. Towers would be activated but they would have no clue what he was up to. What was truly terrifying was when a tower deactivated on its own, meaning XANA finished whatever he'd been up.

Jeremy, after weeks of constant internet searches, finally figured it out.

"He's killing people," Jeremy said, displaying his computer screen for everyone. They were all gathered in his room, hovering over his chair to see what he was showing them.

'Everyone' now consisted of Jeremy, Aeilita, Odd, Yumi, Sissi, Herb, and Nicholas. The latter three had only been a part of things for about eight months, but with the constant attacks they were as seasoned as the original gang. It also turned out that without a major secret between them, the two groups could actually get along rather well. Yumi and Sissi were even able to bond over the missing brunette, and to everyone's surprise had actually become good friends.

On the computer screen were different news articles of various freak accidents from the last several months.

"All of these 'accidents' happened at the same time as an attack," Jeremy explained. "And they were all freak accidents. A bus driver suddenly losing control and crashing an entire bus load of people, killing almost everyone inside. Cranes dropping their loads over pedestrians. Murders happening in broad daylight, the killers having no recollection of what happened."

"So he's killing people," Herb said. "Why?"

"That's what we have to figure out. So far, I haven't been able to pinpoint a connection between these. They take place miles apart from each other, and since some of them had multiple victims I'm having trouble figuring out who the actual target was," Jeremy admitted.

"Well what would XANA feel threatened by?" Sissi asked. She stepped back and sat on the edge of Jeremy's bed.

"Probably people who could shut him down," Herb reasoned.

"From what I can tell though," Jeremy said, turning around in his chair, "none of these people were computer scientists."

The rest of the group spread out a little more, Odd and Yumi joining Sissi on the bed.

"Do they have any connection to the organization that was after my father before?" Aeilita asked.

Jeremy crossed his arms as he thought about it. "It's possible, but I checked their occupations. Half of them were in retail."

"Maybe XANA's just getting confused in his old age," Odd suggested.

He received multiple glares.

"This is serious, Odd," Yumi said. "People are _dying_."

"It's not that crazy of an idea that XANA might be bugged though, and might be attacking people in error," Herb said.

"Yeah, but he tried to kill us for a long time but never succeeded," Yumi said. "He's gotten serious if he's actually killing people now."

"I have to agree with Yumi on that one," Sissi said.

"So what do we do about it?" Nicholas asked.

Jeremy pulled his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "I don't know."

"The only thing we can do," Aeilita said. "We keep fighting. We'll have to be faster on Lyoko, to try and save people."

"We're going to have to come up with a permanent way of stopping XANA," Herb said.

"I'm all ears," Jeremy said, placing his glasses back on his face.

"We need to find XANA's weakness. Every big villain has one, right?" Odd said.

"This is a virus, Odd," Herb said. "Not a person."

"No, he might be onto something," Aeilita said. "XANA is just a virus. If we can come up with a strong enough anti-virus, maybe it would be enough."

Jeremy crossed his arms again. "Maybe…" he turned back to his computer and started typing away.

The others sighed, realizing Jeremy had just assigned himself a new project that he would lose sleep over.

"Don't forget about meals and homework, alright Einstein?" Odd said as he stood up.

"'Kay," Jeremy said, already lost in endless numbers and code.

With another sigh, the others left the room, only Herb and Aeilita staying behind to try and help him.

Xx

Ten months of being in hiding had almost driven the trio insane. There were a few days that had been spent dying each other's hair, which had resulted in some very interesting stains around the apartment and some rather intriguing bruises on them all. In the end, Ulrich had bright blonde hair, Jake's black had been bleached white and left that way, and Mellie's hair was a dark brown. Mellie had also cut her hair, while the boys had let theirs grow. Ulrich's now reached his chin, and he was constantly blowing it out of his face.

With all this free time and orders not to leave the apartment unless they had to, they had taken to sparring with each other to keep in shape. They cleared the living room, which provided them with a somewhat decent place to throw some punches. It wasn't perfect though, and over the months they had created a few holes in the plaster from wild swings.

But it was something to _do_.

When they weren't sparring each other, they were typically working out on their own, using whatever they could as weights. Mellie particularly enjoyed sitting on the boys' backs while they did push-ups. They had only recently been able to do more than one with her there, though they still couldn't do five with her on them.

A _ding_ came from the computer, signaling an email. The only email they had was for the director's use, and she had only used it twice in the last ten months.

They all froze where they were, their heads jerking up to the device. Jake ran to the computer, pulling up the email. As soon as he opened it, a full-screen pop up covered the screen. Pictured on the screen were six dice, a single sentence at the top: _How many bites were taken out of the donuts?_

It was a safety code for the email, to try and prevent anyone else from reading it. Once solved, they had ten minutes to read the email and memorize the contents before it deleted itself.

"What the Hell?" Jake asked, looking over the dice. "I see no donuts."

Mellie and Ulrich peered over his shoulder.

"Try adding up the dice," Mellie suggested.

Jake did so, but a large X flashed across the screen. They all winced. They only had two tries left, a safety mechanism of the email.

"Wait, only donuts have holes, right?" Ulrich asked.

The two gave him sideways looks.

"So," Ulrich went on, "only the dice with a dot in the center are a donut"

"I still have no idea what you're saying," Mellie said.

"I do," Jake said. "'One' may be a donut, but it didn't have any bites taken from it. 'Two' and 'six' are not donuts; 'three' had two bites, and that's two threes, so four, and then 'five' has four bites, so eight."

He typed in the number eight. The pop up closed, and the email was revealed.

 _At 1800 on the 19 of September there will be an agent at the corner of Aidyl and Nograd. He will give you a program to reveal the location of XANA inside Lyoko. You are to go to Lyoko and destroy XANA at his core._

That was all the email said.

The importance of the email though was enormous. They had just been given the mission to end this fight once and for all.

They sat in shock for a minute before Mellie jumped up to grab paper and a pen to copy down the email. Even then, once that was done, they didn't say anything or move. The email disappeared, and the computer automatically shut down.

"Why us?" Jake asked.

"Because I'm the one who's been to Lyoko," Ulrich stated without looking up. "I'm the only one who knows how to get there and how to function inside."

"Yeah, but you said your friend Jeremy always did the computer stuff," Mellie said.

Ulrich nodded. "He did, but we've all been trained on it in case of emergencies, and he keeps-at least he used to- a notebook of what to do at the factory."

"Still…this is huge," Jake said.

Ulrich nodded. There was no denying that. The fate of the world had just been thrown into their hands. And they had to do it soon. XANA was already killing people every week who were part of the organization. It didn't matter that they'd changed their identities. He still found them, and he killed them.

Stopping Xana was no longer just preventing the AI from taking over the world. It was saving people they knew.

The nineteenth was only two days away. It felt like it took forever for the days to pass. But pass they did, and at half past five Ulrich was walking out the door. He'd been denied the privilege to leave the apartment the most, XANA knowing his face already, but he'd been adamant that he be the one to receive the program.

He walked briskly to the destination, his hands in his pocket and his head down. He glanced around constantly though, aware of anyone who might be paying him any attention.

The corner in question wasn't too far from the apartment, and he was forced to wait nearby for ten minutes. He leaned against the wall of a building, watching people to pass the time. As a nearby church chimed the hour, he noticed a man in a wide-brimmed hat weaving expertly through the few people on the street.

Ulrich pushed himself off the wall and walked towards the man, keeping one hand out of his pockets. They passed next to each other, practically bumping into each other. A disk was pressed into Ulrich's hand, and he didn't look back as he made his way around the block.

The lights in a shop he passed flickered, but he didn't notice as he kept walking. Inside the shop though, black fog poured out of an outlet. It snuck its way up behind the shopkeeper, forcing its way inside the man's mouth. The man collapsed to the ground, seizing and contorting. The few costumers in the store ran to the counter, but he picked himself up and ignored their questions.

He walked out of the store, pulling a knife out of his back pocket that he used to open boxes. His target was only twenty meters away. He ran forward.

Ulrich heard the footsteps and glanced behind him. His eyes widened and he twisted, avoiding the knife thrust. The man rotated the knife in his hand and swiped at Ulrich again. Ulrich jumped back and shoved the cd in his pocket.

The man kept pressing his advantage, forcing Ulrich back towards the street. Ulrich ducked under a swing and then tackled the man, forcing him to the ground. He got a good look at him, but he didn't recognize the attacker.

The man lashed out with the knife again and Ulrich raised an arm to block his hand. With his other hand Ulrich punched him in the throat. His arm lowered a bit and Ulrich took this chance to get up and get in a fighting position.

By now, the surrounding people had their phones out and were video-taping the encounter.

The man was up on his feet quickly and swinging the knife wildly at Ulrich. Ulrich stayed close to knock his arm out of the way, punching him in the stomach constantly. The man never doubled over and never seemed to be effected.

Ulrich slammed his fist across the man's face. His head snapped back and Ulrich followed it up with a kick to his chest. The man stumbled back into a building, but then he pushed himself off and swung with the knife.

Ulrich danced back, his eyes going wide. Those hits should have stunned him…they should have at least winded him. The man wasn't bothered in the slightest. Nothing Ulrich did slowed this guy down.

It suddenly clicked in Ulrich's mind. He'd faced off with similar opponents before…people who had been possessed by XANA.

And if this man was possessed by the virus, then Ulrich only had one option.

He ran.

He ducked through the crowd and shoved people out of his way, putting as much distance between himself and the possessed man.

The man wasn't far behind. People moved out of the way more willingly for him, since the knife was still grasped tightly in his hand.

Ulrich dashed across a street, barely avoiding a car as they slammed on the brakes to avoid him. He had no destination in mind, only the idea to get away. An alley between buildings came into view, and he ducked through it, pulling over trashcans behind him to try and slow the man down.

No doubt Jeremy and the others were already on their way to Lyoko. They would deactivate the tower, and this man would pass out and think it was all just a bad dream. Ulrich just had to give them enough time.

Unfortunately, XANA possessed people were faster and stronger than the average human. The shop worker rounded the alley and jumped over the trashcans with no problem, and he was only steps behind Ulrich as he rounded the corner onto the next street.

Ulrich glanced over his shoulder and jumped aside as the knife was swung at him again. He didn't quite clear it though, and the knife tore into his arm. Blood started to spread over his sweatshirt and drip down his arm. The pain registered next, and he clenched his teeth to try and keep from crying out.

That was all the time he had to dwell on it though. The man was already swinging again, and Ulrich just barely ducked under it. He swung out a leg and knocked the man onto his back, and then he sprinted away again.

The man got to his feet but instead of running again, he threw the knife.

The blade found its mark in Ulrich's right shoulder, burying itself into his back. Ulrich cried out and fell to his knees, reaching a hand around to his shoulder. Tears unwillingly fell from his eyes, and he was having a hard time thinking past the pain.

The man took his time in walking over to him.

His footsteps made it through to Ulrich's mind, and he glanced back. His eyes widened and he forced himself to his feet and started running. The shop worker jumped forward and grabbed Ulrich by the collar of his shirt, throwing him back across the sidewalk.

Ulrich tumbled for a bit but used the roll to jump up and start running the other way. He had never been one for praying before, but now he prayed to any deity that would hear him to let his friends make it in time. There had already been too many casualties because of this virus…he didn't want to be another one. And quite frankly, he just didn't want to die.

The man glared after Ulrich and then chased after him. When he was close enough that Ulrich heard his footsteps, the teen ran into a store. It was a pharmacy, but it was one of those buildings with the apartment complexes on top. He ran for the stairs at the end of the store and started charging up the steps.

XANA wasn't far behind.

On the landing, Ulrich paused and turned around to face him. XANA kept coming, and Ulrich slammed his foot into the man's face, knocking him off balance. He fell down the flight of steps he'd just climbed and Ulrich ran up the next flight.

The lead Ulrich had would have been a good one, if Ulrich wasn't human and XANA didn't supercharge the people he possessed. Ulrich inevitably started to run out of breath and slow down, but the man chasing him didn't.

And when the man finally caught up to him again, he didn't fall for the same trick. He grabbed Ulrich's foot and threw him down the stairs. Ulrich collapsed into the wall in a tangled heap, aggravating his shoulder.

The man came down towards him. Ulrich pushed himself up, wincing as his injuries became known. His knee hurt, but nothing too bad that he couldn't keep going. The shop keeper, however, had other ideas. Ulrich wasn't able to get himself moving before the man was upon him. He grabbed Ulrich and slammed him into the floor, ripping the knife out of Ulrich's shoulder.

Ulrich tried to crawl away, but the man grabbed him and threw him against the wall again, pinning him there with an arm against his throat.

Breathing was tough, but whether that was from the arm crushing his windpipe or his mind freezing at the sight of the knife coming at him, he wasn't sure.

The knife didn't reach him. Everything seemed to freeze for a moment, and the man's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed to the ground, the knife clattering to the ground.

Ulrich closed his eyes and took a deep breath of relief as he slid down the wall. That had been too close for comfort.

He checked to make sure the disc was still safe and sound in his pocket before making his way back to the apartment. His arm and shoulder throbbed terribly, and he walked with a noticeable limp, but he made it back without any further incident.

Understandably, Mellie and Jake freaked out when he made it back. They made him sit down and cleaned up his wounds, Mellie stitching his shoulder and arm.

For his part, Ulrich held up the disk with a smirk.

They already had plans to get back to the factory the next day. Once they were there, more complications would no doubt arise, but it felt like a solid step closer to ending this. And that was what mattered to them.

 _Don't forget to leave a review!_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

At seven o'clock in the morning, Odd knocked on Jeremy's door. Last night's attack was another one where they had no idea what XANA had been doing, so no doubt Jeremy had spent all night scouring the internet to try and figure it out. But with a night like that, if Odd didn't fetch Jeremy in the morning no one might see the Einstein until well after lunch.

"It's open!" Jeremy called.

Odd strolled in, glancing at the bed. It was still made from the day before, and Jeremy sat fully dressed at his computer. The blond sighed. "Y'know, growing boys need their sleep."

"And you know this is more important," Jeremy said.

Odd just shook his head. "Well did you figure out what the attack was?"

"No," Jeremy said. "But there has to be _something_."

"Well maybe we deactivated the tower in time," Odd said.

"Wait, what's this?" Jeremy said, leaning closer to his computer and completing ignoring Odd. "'Possible Murder?'"

"Possible murder?" Odd repeated. "What are they not sure the guy is dead?" He walked up to the computer, leaning over Jeremy's shoulder.

Jeremy clicked on the article and started reading. "'Last night at six o'clock a shop keeper viscously attacked a teenage boy. Witnesses in the store say that Joe Carrol collapsed behind the counter just before running out of the store and wielding a knife against a teenage boy. No one witnessing the attack knows the teen. The boy tried to run away from his attacker, but Joe Carrol pursued. Carrol was later found in an apartment stairwell with a bloody knife and blood streaks on the wall. The whereabouts of the boy are still unknown. Carrol, when asked, claimed he has no memory of the attack.'"

"Six o'clock," Odd said. "That's right when the tower was activated."

"And if this man has no memory of the attack, then this is probably what XANA was up to," Jeremy said.

"But he's never gone after a teenager before," Odd commented. "They've always been middle-age."

"Why would XANA feel threatened by a teenager?" Jeremy mused.

"Oh, there's a video," Odd said, pointing to the link.

Jeremy clicked on it without a word. They watched the attacker carefully, seeing the stiff patterns of a possessed person that they were all too familiar with.

"Definitely XANA," Jeremy said.

The boy he was attacking suddenly made a dash for the person holding the camera, running right past them to get away.

Odd jumped forward, his eyes wide and his mouth falling open. "Go back!"

Jeremy glanced up at him and then Odd just rolled his chair away and did it himself. "Wha, hey!"

Odd rewound the video and stopped it right when the boy's face was in front of the camera.

Jeremy's eyes widened as well, and he wondered how he'd missed it.

The blond hair dye did little to disguise the face of Ulrich Stern.

The news couldn't wait for lunch when they'd all be together. Jeremy and Odd sent out texts to everyone and had them all there within half an hour. Breakfast was not as important as this news.

Yumi was the last to get there. She closed the door behind her, and then Jeremy clicked play on the video and had them all watch.

Odd paused it at the end, and mouths dropped. The girls' eyes watered.

"He's alive," Yumi said, taking a deep breath.

"I knew it! I knew he had to be alive!" Sissi cheered.

"Actually," Jeremy glanced at Odd. "They don't know if he is or not. No one knows what happened to him."

"Couldn't that just be because he got away and hid?" Nicholas asked, scratching the top of his head. "I mean, I would hide if I got the chance."

"It might," Jeremy conceded.

Odd wrapped an arm around Jeremy's neck. "C'mon Einstein. This is _Ulrich_ we're talking about. He's fine."

"Where did this happen?" Aeilita asked. She rubbed her eyes to get rid of the tears.

Jeremy checked. "Tangelic, Hungary," he said.

"And what are we supposed to do with this information?" Herb asked.

"Go after him," Yumi said.

"When?" Herb asked. "Hungary is hours away by bus, and in case you forgot, we still have class."

"Not to mention we can't just leave XANA to do what he wants," Jeremy reminded.

"Well we wouldn't all go, just two or three of us," Yumi said.

"And how are you going to find him once you're there?" Herb asked. "A town name isn't as much to go on as you think. He could be anywhere in that town."

"Plus, with the dyed hair, it looks like he's trying not to be found," Jeremy added.

"We should still go after him," Sissi said. "I want to know why he left in the first place, and if he ever plans on coming back."

"And with what money are you going to go?" Herb asked. "A bus ticket or a train ticket to Hungary isn't cheap, not to mention a way back and food. And if you don't find him in a day, what about hotels?"

Yumi clenched her fists, fighting back tears. "Fine. If you want him to stay gone so bad then you can just sit there."

She stormed out of the room, slamming Jeremy's door.

Sissi sighed and wiped tears off her own face. "I'll go after her." She caught up to Yumi on the stairs, grabbing her arm. Yumi pulled it out of her grasp but didn't look back at her. Sissi rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Yumi, hugging her from behind.

Yumi stopped and reached hands up to Sissi's arms.

"I want him back too," Sissi said. "But Herb was right. We don't have money to go after him. We're just going to have to trust that he'll come back to us when he can."

"Sometimes that just isn't good enough," Yumi stated, letting tears fall.

Sissi just hugged her tighter.

Xx

They set out early in the morning. Mellie packed them food so they wouldn't have to stop for any. Jake added Ulrich's things into his own pack so Ulrich wouldn't have to. Ulrich's shoulder and arm still hurt terribly, and he was keeping his hand in his hoodie pocket so he wouldn't use it.

The bus ride was agony. It was long; never-ending. And the jostling only bothered Ulrich's shoulder more. But they were on their way. One more big battle, and XANA would be gone. They would all be safe.

It was mid-afternoon when the bus reached their stop. Ulrich practically ran through town, leading them to the factory. It was just as he had remembered it. Nothing had changed.

Ulrich paused at the edge of the bridge.

Jake and Mellie glanced back at him. "Everything okay?" Mellie asked.

"Yeah…" Ulrich said. "Just…a lot of memories here."

So many times he'd ran across this bridge, both to save people and to be saved from things chasing him. So many times he'd raced his friends to see who could get to the elevator first.

He shook his head and kept walking. Jake and Mellie glanced at each other before following him. He stopped again just inside the factory and glanced at the two of them.

They were eying the ropes and the ground fifteen feet below.

"You're kidding me," Mellie said. "We have to jump to reach the rope and hope we don't miss?"

"And then slide down without giving ourselves rope burn?" Jake finished.

Ulrich smirked. "If my arm wasn't busted, I'd prove it, but even I can't get down that way right now. So we go this way." He led them to the stairs and they walked down to the main floor and to the elevator.

The elevator inspired more memories for Ulrich, but those were cut short when the doors opened again to the lab. He beckoned for them to follow as he stepped off.

Their eyes were wide as they looked around at everything. Ulrich picked up the notebook Jeremy kept there and then hoisted himself into the chair. The holographic map of Lyoko showed up in front of the computer, and the other two occupied themselves with that.

Ulrich pulled the disc out of his pocket and took a deep breath. The notebook, for now, was behind him on the chair. "Alright, let's hope this works."

He inserted the disc into the computer. Hopefully that was all he had to do. He didn't actually know anything about how to code on a computer.

A little window popped up on the screen, strands of code flashing by. For a few moments, Ulrich just held his breath and waited for the computer to sort itself out. Mellie and Jake came to stand on either side of him.

After five minutes, a single image was left on the window. Ulrich looked at it closely, finding he recognized it. Or at least part of it.

"That's the core of Lyoko," he muttered, pointing to the bottom half of it. The red lined room was directly above the core. "I'll be damned."

"What?" Mellie asked.

"It's just…we've been in this room dozens of time, and we never knew he was that close," Ulrich said.

"So you know how to get to it?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, but once we're inside I can't get us the vehicles we'll need to get to the core," Ulrich said.

"Well can you program them now, so they'll be waiting for us?" Jake asked.

"I can try," Ulrich said. He debated within himself for a moment and then reached behind him to get the notebook.

Finding the page of notes he needed was easy enough. Pinpointing the exact coordinates he would need to use was harder, and then he had to actually type up the code. To Ulrich's surprise, there were more vehicles than he remembered, but he only programmed the overbike and the overboard.

"Alright, assuming XANA doesn't destroy those before we get there, those should be alright. Now I just have to set up the virtualization process."

He took careful care in setting this up, double-checking everything. If things went wrong, there would be no one to know. Or maybe Jeremy would figure it out when he was back in the chair. For all Ulrich knew, an alarm had already gone off on the Einstein's laptop, warning him that someone was using the supercomputer. He wouldn't put it past Jeremy to do that.

"Okay, the countdown's started," Ulrich said, jumping out of the chair. "Follow me." He led them down to the scanner room and went for a cabin. "Just step inside and wait."

"You sure this is safe?" Mellie eyed the cabin dubiously.

"No backing out now," Ulrich stated.

She shared a glance with Jake and they stepped inside.

The doors shut, and the scanners hummed as they came to life. Ulrich took a deep breath of contentment as the process ran through.

Xx

At the academy, a laptop beeped. The gang was hanging out on their usual bench, and Jeremy reached down for it.

The others groaned.

"Not another attack," Odd complained.

"We just had one last night," Herb said.

Jeremy opened it and his eyes widened. "It's not an attack," he stated.

The girls' narrowed their eyes and glanced at each other.

"Someone's using the scanners," Jeremy said

"That's…even more concerning, actually," Yumi said.

"Yeah, we'd better go," Jeremy said.

Nothing else was said before they raced off to the park.

Xx

On Sector Five, three shapes materialized in the air. Ulrich dropped down gracefully, landing in a crouch. The other two fell on their butts.

It didn't take Ulrich long to realize he was no longer a samurai, and his hair was brown again. Instead, he wore a yellow and black jumpsuit, his sabers on his back. It looked more battle-worthy. He had to wonder when Jeremy had the time to do that, and why he'd bothered with Ulrich's.

Mellie looked like a medieval knight. She had armored shoulder pads and chainmail, with lots of belts looped around her waist. She had flared capris and armored boots. Wrist guards were clasped on her arms, and red hair was held back in a high pony tail. Strapped to her back was a double-headed ax.

Jake looked more like a ninja. He had a black tunic and black leggings, even a black hood hanging on his back. His right hand had a clawed glove, but his left hand was bare.

"Alright, Mellie, straightforward enough. You have an ax. Jake…try shooting something from your glove."

He held his hand out and flicked his wrist. Thin strings shot out, nearly wrapping around Mellie.

"I'm supposed to fight with string?" he asked.

Ulrich shrugged. "Lyoko is weird like that."

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Jake demanded. He kept flicked his wrist, and to his surprise controlling the strands wasn't that hard. They followed the movements his hand made, like an extension of his arm. Shooting his arm out towards Mellie and then wrapping his arm in, he found the string did the same thing.

"Hey!" she complained.

"Sorry! I'm trying to figure this out!"

Ulrich frowned. Bringing novices into a final battle was not ideal. They barely even knew how to handle their weapons. And chances were, once XANA knew they were there, the two of them wouldn't even make it to his hidden location. That would leave him fighting alone, which was even less ideal. And he couldn't just bank on Jeremy and the others stumbling upon them and providing backup.

But he was already on Lyoko. There was nothing he could do about it now but hope for the best.

"Alright, let's get moving," Ulrich said. He dashed off for the narrow hallway, leading them through to the cavern on the other side.

At the moment, they had the advantage. XANA hadn't been aware of them coming, so monsters weren't yet waiting for them. They made it through the cavern without incident, and Ulrich led them all the way to the elevator.

"Get ready and jump when I say so," he said, watching carefully.

Mellie and Jake did as they were told.

"Now!" Ulrich said, jumping forward.

The two did the same, and they made it onto the craft. From there it was easy to get to the outer rim where the vehicles were still waiting for them, completely unharmed.

Xx

Jeremy didn't fail to notice his notebook propped up on the computer screens. He yanked it away and looked at the data carefully. There were three cards on the screen, displaying who was on Lyoko. Two of the people he didn't know. The third made him gasp and reach for the headset.

"Ulrich? What the Hell are you doing?"

The gang gasped around him. "Ulrich?"

" _What was that?"_ a female voice asked from the computer.

Ulrich's unmistakable laugh came next. " _That was just Jeremy. It's good to hear your voice man."_

Yumi grabbed the headset from Jeremy. "What are you doing? You think you can disappear for almost a year and then show up to take your new friends on a joy ride through Lyoko?"

" _Well she sounds mad_ ," a male voice commented.

"Gee, I wonder why," Sissi muttered.

" _Uh, we're not exactly here on a joy ride,"_ Ulrich said.

"Then what are you there for?" Yumi demanded.

" _To defeat XANA once and for all,_ " Ulrich stated.

Jeremy grabbed the headset back. "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

" _We know where he is. That window should still be up on the screen…he's right above the core."_

Jeremy had no trouble finding it. He also wondered how Ulrich had found it.

" _Hey, what are those?"_ the male asked.

Ulrich cursed. _"Mantas. Look, guys, I get you're mad at me, but we could really use some back up when we go in to fight XANA. These guys barely know what they're doing, and I don't think I can take him by myself."_

On the screen, the three blips that represented the teens were moving towards the blips that represented the mantas.

The gang glanced at each other.

"If this is a way to end it for good, then I'm going," Aeilita stated, heading towards the elevator. Odd followed without a word, as did Nicholas. Herb debated only a moment longer before following.

Sissi and Yumi glanced at each other. Their inner war was mirrored in each other's eyes. Part of them wanted to refuse Ulrich on principle, since he'd run out on them before. But the other part recognized that some things were more important than principle.

They followed the others down to the scanners.

...

 _Please Review!_


	5. Chapter 5

_OH GOD I AM SO SORRY. I HAVE NEVER GONE THIS LONG WITHOUT UPDATING A STORY BEFORE I FEEL AWFUL. MY ONLY EXCUSES ARE COLLEGE AND AN UNCOOPERATIVE MUSE._

 _Right then. So, here's a summary to recap what's going on, since you know, you probably don't remember after how many months? I don't even want to know._

 _SUMMARY:_ Odd wakes up when day and Ulrich is missing. All they find is a note saying 'I'm sorry.' Ulrich, meanwhile, has left town on a superior's orders and met up with some old friends, Jake and Mellie. They are given orders to stay in hiding, and ten months pass. The Lyoko gang needed help and recruited Sissi, Herb, and Nicholas. XANA's attacks have gotten weirder and weirder, and Jeremy figures out he's killing random civilians all over Europe. On the latest attack, Jeremy finds a video of the most recent victim. Odd recognizes the victim as Ulrich, but they have no means to track him down. On his end, Ulrich is given orders to take Jake and Mellie to Lyoko and destroy XANA. As soon as he uses the scanner, an alarm alerts Jeremy and the gang is quick to catch them. Jeremy sends the others to Lyoko to help in the final battle.

 _Now, on with the chapter!_

Chapter 5

Ulrich couldn't say he was disappointed to have been caught by the others. On the contrary, he was glad Jeremy was at the computer again and would be able to warn them about anything and provide more vehicles if needed. He also was quite glad he'd be going into this fight with more seasoned fighters.

He definitely was going to need their help.

He went out on his overbike to fight the mantas that had appeared, Mellie behind him. Jake took the overboard. They quickly discovered that had been a bad idea. Jake was not as skilled on a skateboard as he'd claimed, and they hadn't even destroyed any mantas before he was devirtualized.

"Don't worry, the others are on their way," Jeremy told Ulrich.

"Yeah…hey they're not mad enough to try and kill me, right?" Ulrich checked. He drew his saber as he flew at a manta.

"Um…they'll probably save that for after the fight," Jeremy said.

Ulrich nodded. "Good…Mellie, take the wheel."

Mellie's eyes widened. "Why? What are you doing?"

In answer, Ulrich jumped up on the overbike.

"Ulrich?"

Ulrich jumped off the bike when they were over the manta. He landed on the monster and stabbed the target.

Mellie took hold of the handlebars.

"Bring it back towards me!" Ulrich said.

The controls weren't that hard, and Mellie was easily able to get the bike under Ulrich as he jumped of the manta before it exploded. Ulrich slid on in front of her again and took the controls, aiming for the next manta.

"Don't you ever do that again," Mellie ordered.

Ulrich laughed. "No promises."

She rolled her eyes.

"The others are almost there," Jeremy told them.

"Excellent," Ulrich said. He zig zagged as he headed towards the next manta, avoiding most of the laser blasts and blocking the rest of them.

Mellie pulled the ax off her back. "Alright, my turn. Get me close."

Ulrich smiled. "Yes ma'am." He blocked a few more lasers as he drove up to the second manta.

Mellie stood up behind him, keeping a hand on his head to steady herself. Ulrich drove the overbike right under the manta, and Mellie slammed the edge of the ax into the front of the manta, slicing the creature in half.

The explosion as it devirtualized though threw her off the bike. "Ulrich!"

He rolled his eyes and raced down to catch her. Grabbing hold of her hand was no problem, but she let her ax fall to the void below. Ulrich swung her up behind him and glared at the spinning weapon before diving after it.

"Where's the last manta?" he asked, glancing around.

"You're eight o'clock, but it's heading away from you," Jeremy replied.

Ulrich frowned and revved the bike, adding a burst of speed. He scooped the ax out of the air and handed it back to Mellie.

"Thanks," she said.

"Just try and hold onto it," he said. He maneuvered the bike to chase after the final manta. "Are the others almost here?"

"They're on the elevator now," Jeremy said.

"Where is this thing going?" Mellie asked, still watching the manta. It wasn't paying them any attention, instead flying around the outer rim. It turned and hovered in the air, facing sector five.

Ulrich's eyes widened. "Jeremy, tell the others to duck and cover!"

Jeremy didn't hesitate before relaying the order. The manta charged an attack and fired, aiming past the entryway to the outer rim.

"Xana's trying to pick them off before they even get out here," Ulrich growled.

"Not to add more bad news," Jeremy started, "But there are three more manta hatching at nine o'clock."

Ulrich and Mellie glanced in the indicated direction. Ulrich scowled and stayed on target for the manta in front of them.

"That's just weird and gross," Mellie commented.

"Bigger things to worry about," Ulrich stated, twisting his saber in his grasp. The manta turned and fired at them, but Ulrich deflected the shots with his blade. Mellie hid behind his back.

A laser arrow pierced the manta, followed by another and another. None of them hit the eye, but the monster was effectively distracted. It reared back to the sector and fired a few more shots, and Ulrich took the opportunity to stab the creature through the gut, piercing the eye from beneath. He yanked his sword out and sped off as the manta exploded.

"Alright!" Mellie cheered.

Ulrich turned the overbike around just as their reinforcements pooled onto the deck outside the sector. They may have been the digitalized versions of his friends with outfits he didn't recognize, but Ulrich felt a smile tug at his face and warmth spread through his chest. After ten long months, his friends were here. They would fight side by side once more, just like old times.

Behind Yumi, Aeilita, and Odd came three more people, three people Ulrich had never expected to see on Lyoko.

" _Sissi?_ And _Herb and Nicholas?_ What the Hell, Jeremy?"

"We needed help," Jeremy replied. "And, as you said, we have bigger things to worry about right now."

Shame twisted like a knife in Ulrich's gut. He had abandoned his friends, and they hadn't been able to keep up with Xana's attacks. They had needed to recruit people, and of all people they had turned to Sissi's gang. They had been desperate enough to ask _Sissi_ for help.

The new trio had the same upgraded style of armor that he and the others had, so Ulrich assumed their current outfits weren't their original personas. That said, he had no idea what their weapons were. Sissi, outfitted in mostly bright pink but with stripes of blue on her arms and legs, had a whip coiled at her waist. Nicholas, wearing brown and orange, had a holster around each leg, but it didn't look like the handle of a gun poking out of them. Herb, in a black jumpsuit with green armor plating, had two metal rods sticking over each soldier, so Ulrich assumed he had swords like him.

All six of them smiled and waved at Ulrich. Some of the smiles turned sour after a moment, and Ulrich glanced away, shame and guilt washing over him again. It didn't matter he had been gone on orders. None of them knew that, or could know that. To them, it would always be that he had left willingly.

Vehicles materialized around the deck, but Ulrich only recognized the overwing. Nicholas jumped on something that looked like skis; it was two thin boards connected by a third crosspiece and had two poles sticking out of each board for guidance. Herb and Odd hopped inside what looked like a go-cart, and Sissi reached for a hang-glider. Yumi and Aeilita claimed the overwing.

The group raced off from the deck, joining Ulrich and Mellie in the air.

"Man, I can't believe you're actually alive," Nicholas called over to him.

"Of course he's alive," Sissi reprimanded. "I told you he was, didn't I? It's great to see you Ulrich."

Ulrich smiled. "It's great to see all of you too." His eyes met Yumi's, and she looked away, her expression angry. Aeilita offered a small smile and shrugged.

Red lasers cut the reunion short, bringing everyone back to the task at hand.

"Alright, let's do this!" Odd yelled, standing in his seat in Herb's go-cart. He fired the first shots at the mantas, the arrows flying harmlessly past them into the void. Herb gunned his vehicle, charging the creatures. The others fell into a V formation behind them, leaving Ulrich and Mellie to straggle in the back.

"Uh, Ulrich? The fight's up there," Mellie said.

"I know," Ulrich said quietly. "I just…They have formations now…. and Herb and Odd working together …I never thought I'd see the day."

Mellie flinched as a laser past too close for comfort. "Can you be impressed later?"

"Sorry," Ulrich said. He sped up and took his place behind Sissi's hang-glider, evening out the V.

Yumi threw a fan, arching the spinning blades to cut across the back of the first manta. The damage wasn't enough to destroy the manta, but it stalled the creature long enough for Odd and Herb to pass over it. Herb flipped their ride upside down and Odd shot a perfect bullseye.

The formation scattered as the creature exploded.

Yumi, Aeilita, and Nicholas circled around one manta while Sissi, Ulrich, and Mellie surrounded the last one.

Aeilita fired an energy orb, stunning their manta. Nicholas flicked his wrist and sent a long, thin stick into the creature's back. Yumi finished the job with another fan.

Sissi uncurled her whip and snapped it at the manta, drawing its attention. She took some evasive maneuvers to avoid the lasers, and Ulrich snuck up behind the monster and Mellie readied her ax.

"Can you do that flip thingie the others did?" she asked.

Ulrich smirked and did as asked. Upside down now, Mellie hacked at the manta. Her ax dug into the digital creature, a little too well. It hooked into the data and pulled her off the overbike. The Manta exploded, the shrapnel attacking Mellie. The force of the explosion sent Ulrich and Sissi the other way.

Mellie fell through the air, her ax gone. Ulrich spun to find her, only to see Nicholas already catching her. She fit herself onto the back of his skis and looked up at Ulrich, signaling she was okay.

"Uh, Mellie, you've got ten life points left," Jeremy said.

"And that means…"

"If you get hit again you'll devirtualize and be sent back to Earth," Nicholas explained.

"Oh, so no pressure then," Mellie stated.

Ulrich shook his head and looked around at the others. "Alright, let's go before more show up." He turned the overbike and led the way to the entrance of the core. The others followed without a word, and they spiraled up through the core room.

Now that he was looking for it, he could see the hatch in the ceiling where XANA was. With how jagged everything in Sector 5 always looked, he'd just assumed the circle in the ceiling was part of the building aesthetic.

" _Careful guys! There are Creepers on the stairs!"_ Jeremy yelled.

"Creepers?" Mellie repeated, readjusting her grip.

"Those guys!" Odd answered. He took aim from his seat and fired some laser arrows before the Creepers could shoot back. He hit one, but the rest retreated over the steps.

"Oh," Mellie said. "Aptly named."

"Why thank you," Odd said.

Yumi and Aeilita bypassed the Creepers entirely, aiming for the hatch. Sissi took out two of the creatures on the way up, only getting hit once herself. Nicholas managed to take out another three, but Mellie was hit in the process and devirtualized.

The path was mostly clear for Ulrich. He took out the last Creeper and then joined the others at the ceiling.

"How do we get this thing open?" Yumi asked. She pried at the hatch uselessly, even jamming the edge of her fan in the crack and trying to lever it.

"Let me try," Aeilita said, placing her palm against the surface. She closed her eyes, and for a moment nothing happened.

Then the hatch folded away, reveling an opening just big enough for them to fit through.

They dismounted their vehicles and surveyed their surroundings. Orange lightning crackled against the walls, reaching from floor to ceiling. They were at one end of a long rectangular room; in the center was an hourglass pillar. At the thinnest point was a rotating box, each side decorated with XANA's symbol.

"So…that's what we need to destroy?" Odd asked. He was already lifting his arm and taking aim. "No problem!"

"This is too easy," Ulrich muttered. He eyed the columns of lightning against the walls.

Odd fired.

The laser arrow sank into a protective barrier and dissolved into nothing. The orange lightning turned red and grew more chaotic, small strips reaching out from the walls. It touched the go-cart vehicle Odd and Herb had been in, instantly destroying it.

The warriors moved closer together on instinct.

"Way to go, Odd!" Herb scolded.

"I didn't know it would do that!" Odd defended.

"Which is exactly why you shouldn't have tried!" Herb said.

"Guys, not the time," Yumi said.

The hatch had already closed, trapping them in the room, but none of them were particularly concerned. This was exactly where they wanted to be.

"Jeremy, can you scan it?" Aeilita asked. The lightning had calmed down a little, but it retained the angry red color.

" _Already working on it_ ," he said.

"Are these barriers like the ones around the core?" Yumi asked.

"Considering the response the lightning gave us, I'd rather not hit them again," Sissi stated.

Ulrich ventured out from the pack, eyeing the little box.

" _That's definitely where XANA is,"_ Jeremy said. _"But I can't get a really good reading on the barriers around it. Or this lightning around you. I think they're all connected."_

"What, so it's _all_ XANA?" Nicholas asked.

They looked around the room again.

"I think if that were the case he'd be trying to kill us a lot harder," Odd said.

"But if it is, then it shouldn't matter if we attack the box or the lightning first," Ulrich said, turning towards the walls. "Let's see if we can shut this lightning off."

Strategy ready, the warriors set to work. Yumi threw her fan at the ceiling; she left a deep gauge, but the lightning persisted. Odd shot arrows at the lightning itself, but just like with the barrier they absorbed it and then shot out at him.

Things really only got more chaotic from there. Nicholas and Herb both attacked the same column with one powerful blast, but it rebounded on them. Nicholas was devirtualized, but Herb stayed for a little longer. Not much, but still longer. He tried to help Sissi, and the rebound on that sent him back to Earth.

"This isn't working!" Aeilita shouted. She used an energy sphere to absorb an attack and then fired it back.

Ulrich grit his teeth and glanced at the box. "Screw it. Attack the box, but watch your back!"

He slashed the barrier, and all the columns of lightning started going crazy. A fan impaled itself on the barrier across from him, and then a whip smacked the surface next to him. Lightning arched over his head.

" _Be careful guys_ ," Jeremy said.

"Don't worry so much!" Odd said. "We got this!"

"Focus Odd!" Sissi said.

"I've never been more focused!" Odd corrected, shooting another arrow at the barrier.

It shimmered for a moment, and that was all the warning Ulrich had to duck as the first layer exploded. The others soon joined him on the ground as the lightning went haywire above them.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Ulrich muttered. He climbed back to his feet went the lightning started to settle and started to attack the barrier, using both swords to hack away at it.

The others took up positions around the box and did the same, and soon they were diving to the ground as the second barrier gave way.

Sissi wasn't so lucky this time. She dove a little too close to the lightning, and tendrils shot out at her. She was gone before she even knew what happened.

The lightning settled again. The remaining four climbed to their feet and looked at each other.

"Heh, it's just like old times," Odd said.

Even Yumi found it in her to smile at Ulrich.

He grinned back. "Yeah, just us fighting against XANA."

"And bringing him down for good," Aeilita said, readying an energy sphere.

"Would you care to do the honors?" Yumi asked her.

"It would be my pleasure," Aeilita said. She fired the orb at the box.

None of them quite knew what to expect when the cube shattered. It left a hole in the pillar, and the lightning died down completely, leaving them in almost total darkness. Only a small portal over the hatch they'd come in through gave them an eerie white glow to see by.

"Is that it?" Odd asked.

"Still feels too easy," Ulrich muttered. He looked at the glowing portal again. Something about it made him nervous.

Something started humming. "Guys, I don't think that was it," Yumi muttered.

"Jeremy?" Aeilita asked.

" _I'm not picking up on anything."_

"Really? There's nothing that says XANA is bye-bye?" Odd asked.

" _No, actually. Everything looks like it always does._ "

"But we did just destroy him, didn't we?" Aeilita asked.

The humming grew louder. In the gap where the cube used to be, a red ball of energy started to form.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ulrich said. They all took a few precautionary steps back.

It didn't matter how many steps they took. The resounding explosion threw them all back against the walls, devirtualizing them instantly.

 _End Chapter_

 _I'm not going to make any promises about when the next update will be, but I will try to have it by the end of the month. Reviews are very encouraging! If you let me know there are people reading I will be more motivated to work on this!_


	6. Chapter 6

Previously: _Ulrich vanished one random day. The police had no leads, and the Kadic gang was very sad and confused. He showed up at an underground bunker where Mellie and Jake were waiting. They were under orders to go into hiding, and after a month they received orders to stay in hiding indefinitely. Meanwhile the Kadic gang has been struggling with Xana, to the point where they asked Sissi, Herb, and Nicholas for help. Towers are activated and deactivate again on their own, leaving the gang with no clues as to what Xana has been doing. Eventually Jeremy realizes there's a pattern of freaky accidents and deaths that match up to the activated towers. In hiding, Ulrich receives orders to return to Kadic and take down XANA for good. He brings Jake and Mellie and they virtualize themselves on Lyoko. Their use of the supercomputer alerts Jeremy, and the others come running. They agree to work together to take down XANA. They manage to destroy XANA's core, but in the ensuing explosion the rest of them are devirtualized._

Chapter 6

Ulrich's head was still spinning by the time the scanner doors opened. The pain in his arm returned full force, and the blond strands of hair that fell in his eyes confused him for a moment. He'd gotten used to the brown bangs he had on Lyoko already.

He hardly even registered that he was back on Earth, back in the factory, that they've just defeated XANA, before Yumi was shoving him back against the wall, fists balled up in his hoodie.

"Explain yourself. Now," she growled.

He blinked. Jake and Mellie hovered nearby, watching for his signal. Aeilita, Odd, and all the others were just watching, but they didn't make any move to help him. The elevator door opened, and Jeremy jogged in. He froze when he saw the situation.

Ulrich finally looked down at Yumi. Distantly, he noted that he was taller than her and that she's let her hair grow out. It looked good long. The fire in her eyes though was only a few degrees from being literal fire.

"I was given a disc that had XANA's location on it, so I brought Jake and Mellie to help take him down."

"From who?" Yumi demanded.

He took a deep breath to calm himself. Jake shook his head, and Mellie offered a sympathetic smile.

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?" Yumi asked. Her knuckles were white with the strength of her grip.

He placed his good hand on one of her hers, gently prying her fingers off his sweatshirt. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you that either."

She snarled and jerked him back against the wall again. He winced.

Jake stepped in, putting a hand on Yumi's shoulder. "Look, all we can tell you is that we're following orders. But our goal has always been to take down XANA."

"How do you even know about XANA?" Jeremy asked.

"That's a story for another day," Mellie said, waving a hand dismissively.

Aeilita crossed her arms. "We have plenty of time. Start talking."

"No," Ulrich said. He glared at Yumi. "I'm sorry, I really am. But we have to go."

"What?" Yumi said. Her grip loosened just enough that Ulrich was able to slip out, and he headed towards the elevator.

Sissi, Herb, and Nicholas stood in his way. "Not so fast. You can't just take off for a year and not give us an explanation," Sissi said.

It was a lot easier to force himself to be mean and uncaring in front of these three. "I don't owe any of you anything."

He tried to push past them, Jake and Mellie hot on his heels, but Nicholas grabbed his arm. His injured arm.

"Hang on-"

"Let. Go," Ulrich growled.

Nicholas only held on tighter.

Mellie grabbed onto his wrist and squeezed, forcing him to release his grip on Ulrich. "I get that this sucks for all of you," Mellie started, "but we really do have somewhere to be. If we can come back and explain, we will."

Ulrich stepped into the elevator.

"So that's it?" Yumi asked, her voice breaking. She stared at Ulrich, trembling, tears forming in her eyes. "You show up, beat XANA, and you're just going to take off again? Didn't we mean anything to you?!"

Odd stepped in front of her. "Let him go."

The room fell into silence. At first, Ulrich thought Odd was so pissed at him he didn't want anything to do with him, but then Odd turned to him, pain in every crevice of his face. "The Ulrich I know, if he was real, has a good reason for doing this."

Somehow, that trust hurt more, and Ulrich found he couldn't meet Odd's stare any longer.

He tore his gaze away. "Jake. Mellie."

The two were quick to join him on the elevator. He pressed the button, and the doors slid shut. Ulrich fell back against the wall and slipped down to the ground. Mellie squatted next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hopefully, once we report our success, everything will be over and you can go back to school with them," she said.

He smiled. "Yeah. I'll be enrolled again by the end of the month."

She helped him back to his feet just as the elevator came to a stop. His steps were heavy as they walked across the floor, back to the stairs to climb up to the bridge.

Part of him expected the others to come running after him.

Part of him really wanted them to. He wanted them to prove they cared that much about him.

The ground started shaking, but it wasn't from their pounding footsteps.

"What's happening?" Jake asked.

"Earthquake?" Mellie suggested. The ceiling cracked.

The horrible feeling from the last few minutes on Lyoko came back to Ulrich. He knew it had been too easy.

"I don't think it's natural," he said.

The others were still by the scanners. They were still underground. If the factory collapsed, they'd be trapped.

"We have to get them out!" Ulrich said. He turned back to the elevator.

The floor cracked. Chunks of it fell away. Pieces of the roof came crashing down.

"There's no time!" Jake said. "We have to get ourselves out!" He tugged on Ulrich's arm.

Panic squeezed Ulrich's chest. "I can't leave them!" Not again. He couldn't walk away from them again, not like this. Not when they needed him.

"We need to get out and get help!" Mellie said. She tugged on his other arm.

"Then you go!" he yelled. He tore himself out of their grasp and stumbled forward. The floor gave out under him. His stomach lurched and he fell with it.

"Ulrich!" they yelled.

He landed hard on the debris and tumbled down. He'd be feeling that later, he was sure, but right now all he felt was the adrenaline rushing through him. He had to find the others, had to make sure they got out okay.

And then he was going to apologize for ever leaving them and beg for forgiveness, because obeying that stupid order was the dumbest thing he'd ever done.

The elevator was too risky right now, which meant the others would be coming up by the boiler room. That was the direction he headed for.

He never made it.

Laughter, dark and maniacal echoed all around him. He barely heard it over the crashing debris. Something hit his head, and he collapsed with the rubble.

Xx

It hurt, to let Ulrich walk out like that.

But it had hurt watching him refuse to answer their questions, too, Odd thought. It hurt watching what his non-answers did to everyone else.

He'd meant what he said, about Ulrich having a good reason for whatever he was doing. It had led Ulrich back to them once already, to defeat XANA. Odd trusted it would lead Ulrich back again one day. They just had to be patient.

But damn, was it hard to be patient when it hurt this much.

The silence lasted thirty seconds, long enough for the elevator to have taken Ulrich out of sight. Then Yumi screamed and slammed a fist into the wall.

There was a crack, and Odd doubted it was the metal wall.

"Damn him," Yumi said. "Damn him to hell."

"That was not cool," Nicholas agreed.

"Didn't expect that kind of behavior from him of all people," Herb said, pushing his glasses up.

Aelita sniffled. "Like Odd said. He must have a good reason." She went over to Yumi and pried her away from the wall, taking her hand gently in both of her own.

"He could have given us at least a little hint," Sissi pouted, crossing her arms. Herb put an arm around her shoulders.

"But he did," Jeremy said. "They mentioned they were under orders."

"Whose orders?" Yumi demanded.

"Someone who knows about XANA," Aelita said. "Someone who must have been fighting him for a long time already."

That just made Odd's head hurt more. Why couldn't things ever stay simple? He preferred things when it was just them trying to get Aeilita off Lyoko. One goal, two sides, and that was it. None of this giant mystery crap with unknown players.

The lights flickered.

"What the…"

And then all hell broke loose.

The building shook. Ceiling tiles fell. Wall panels popped off the walls.

"Through the boiler room!" Jeremy yelled.

They had to climb single file up the ladder, and Odd bounced from foot to foot while waiting his turn. One of the rungs came off in Nicholas' hands. Aelita kicked another one off.

"What's happening?" Sissi asked.

"The building is coming down!" Herb said.

Odd thought that was obvious, and that this conversation did not need to happen right now.

They made it to the boiler room. Odd helped Jeremy up and they turned to start running. Sissi and Aelita were already picking their way over the rubble on the floor.

They didn't even make it halfway before the rest of the building came down around them.

The last thing Odd remembered was laughter.

End Chapter

Sooooo guess who's not dead?

I make no promises on consistent updates, only that I will, one day, finish this rewrite.

Pro-tip: Every review encourages me to write. So if you want to see the end of this story, review. Let me know you're reading and that you care.


End file.
